best things to eat in last weeks of pregnancy?

Foods to Eat During Your Third Trimester
By Alexandra McCray
Reviewed by Hansa D. Bhargava, MD on August 18, 2020
In this Article

Where to Get the Nutrients You Need

Your baby gains weight quickly during the third trimester, and parts of their body continue to form. Eyes open, nails form, and hair grows, to name just a few of the things that go on.

With all this stuff happening, the food choices you make are very important for the health of your baby.
Where to Get the Nutrients You Need

The building blocks of your meals and snacks should be:

Fruits
Vegetables
Protein
Whole grains
Healthy fats and oils
Low-fat or fat-free pasteurized dairy

Within those things are vitamins, minerals, and nutrients you need daily.

Vitamin A helps your baby’s bones grow. It also supports their skin and vision. Your baby’s eyes open and start to detect light in the third trimester.

You can find vitamin A in:

Fish
Dairy products
Carrots
Cantaloupe
Spinach
Sweet potatoes
Fortified cereals

Vitamin C helps your body take in iron. It also helps make your baby's teeth, gums, and bones healthy. Your immune system needs it, too.

Good options for vitamin C include:

Citrus fruits like oranges, tangerines, and grapefruit
Kiwi
Strawberries
Tomatoes
Red and green peppers
Broccoli

Vitamin B6 is an important nutrient for the development of red blood cells and your baby’s brain. It's in:

Bananas
Poultry
Beef
Fish
Organ meats, like liver and tongue
Starchy vegetables like potatoes
Whole-grain cereals

Vitamin B12 keeps the nervous system strong and helps build red blood cells. You can get vitamin B12 through:

Beef liver
Fish
Poultry
Other meats
Dairy products
Eggs
Fortified foods

Vegans and vegetarians need a B12 supplement, since plant foods don’t naturally have this vitamin. Talk with your doctor before you take any supplement.

Vitamin D helps you and your baby take in calcium. That helps strengthen the bones and teeth of both you and your baby. You can get it from:

Fatty fish like salmon
Fortified foods like breakfast cereal and milk, and sunlight
Egg yolks
Cheese
Beef liver

Calcium forms bones and teeth, which is important during the third trimester, since your baby’s bones are getting harder. You can get calcium in:

Dairy products
Broccoli
Kale
Fortified foods
Canned anchovies or sardines with the bones

Suggested

Choline helps your baby’s brain and spinal cord form. A lot of prenatal vitamins don’t have it. But you can get it from:

Milk
Meat
Fish
Eggs
Poultry
Peanuts
Potatoes
Soy products
Cruciferous vegetables like Brussels sprouts and cauliflower

Iron helps red blood cells give your baby oxygen. Iron is in:

Lean meat
Poultry
Seafood
Nuts
Spinach
White beans
Kidney beans
Lentils
Peas
Prune juice
Fortified breakfast cereals and breads

Vitamin C helps your body absorb iron from plants and supplements.

Iodine helps form your baby’s brain. You can get iodine in:

Seafood
Dairy
Grain products
Iodized salt

Folate and folic acid help protect your baby from brain and spinal cord issues called neural tube defects. Your body also needs them to help the placenta and your baby grow. You can get them in:

Beef liver
Peanuts
Dark green leafy vegetables
Oranges and orange juice
Nuts
Peas
Beans
Fortified breakfast cereals
Enriched bread
Pasta
Flour
Rice
Cornmeal

Omega-3 fatty acids help your baby’s brain form. They're in a lot of fish. Make sure to choose low-mercury seafood like:

Canned light tuna
Salmon
Trout
Herring
Cod

You can eat 8-12 ounces a week, but you shouldn’t have more than 6 ounces of white (albacore) tuna every 7 days. If you eat more than that, there's a chance that too much mercury can get into your bloodstream. This could affect how your baby's brain and nervous system develop.

Other good options for omega-3s include:

Flaxseed
Walnuts
Chia seeds
Cantaloupe
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Spinach
Kidney beans

Protein helps your baby grow, and it helps you and your baby's bodies make blood. You can get it from:

Lean meat
Seafood
Poultry
Cottage cheese
Egg whites
Lentils
Nuts
Beans
Seeds
Peas
Soy products

Fats and oils should be 30% or less of your calories. But they do have crucial benefits. You can get energy from them, and they help your baby’s organs and the placenta grow.

Good fats and oils include:

Olives
Nuts (and their oils)
Avocados

Limit fats from things like meat and whole-milk dairy items.
Suggested

Whole grains are a good source of carbs, energy, and fiber. All of those things can ease constipation for Mom. At least half of the grains you eat should be whole grains that come from things like:

Brown rice
Oats
Whole-grain bread and cereal
Quinoa
Barley
Bulgur
Whole-wheat pasta

In general, the amount of food you need to eat is specific to you. Women in their third trimester often need an extra 450 calories a day. You should talk to your doctor about how many calories you need and how much weight you should gain.

Your doctor can also recommend a prenatal vitamin to make sure you’re getting enough of the nutrients you need.